Let's talk about freelance burnout
It’s been one of those Carousels where I keep writing it and then deleting it.
I’m pretty tired this week and noticing that I may be in a bit of freelance burnout.
The cycle goes like this:
Diary looks pretty empty
Sign up for courses, events and say yes to all the work
Start new initiatives to give me energy and re-inspire me
Life gets busy, in a really good way, as I start to feel purposeful, energised and connected again
Initiatives, courses, events and work go from being ideas to actual real living things that start to expand and become bigger than I thought they’d be
Busyness tips the other way and I start to feel a bit overwhelmed
At this point I want to both cancel everything and also, strangely, notice I start saying yes to MORE things, as in my tiredness I’ve lost the faculty of discernment
I feel depleted and exhausted and start to wonder about what I’m doing with my life
Luckily these days I know that the existential spiral is 90% needing a good night’s sleep, but there is still a 10% that hooks on and sits down and asks me the deep questions, when it’s really not a convenient time.
Why am I telling you this?
Because, I think it’s important we talk about freelance burnout.
That when we say yes to something, it’s not just that day or meeting or workshop, it’s all the stuff around it: The prep, the correspondence, the headspace, the recovery time.
That this oscillation between wanting to be busier + purposeful and needing to rest can take years of experimentation (I shared last week that it’s taken me 9 years to plan in a proper holiday!)
That it can feel like we’re not ‘working’ on days we’re not doing paid work, but there is still a lot of mental energy that goes into thinking about our existence as a freelancer, including sourcing future work, building relationships and learning new skills, so we need to build in time for that.
If you’re reading this as a freelancer notice where you are on this cycle (and it is a cycle - that means it’s forever changing and even when we think we’ve hacked it, something else changes and we need to review it again).
And know that if you’re feeling like you’ve taken on too much again you’re not alone.
Today, I got into bed at 3pm and watched Netflix for 2 hours.
Do what you need to do.
With love,
Sarah
ps. going to honour my tiredness and not write any extra links today, but will post them all con mucho gusto next week.
